Incompetence and evil: The behavior, tweets and outright lies coming from Trump have permeated the basic fabric of America and now people are dead because of them.
COVID 19 lurked unseen in Washington State, spreading silently for at least 6 weeks. The horrifying revelation reported today: someone suspected we were under attack and no one listened. Dr. Helen Y. Chu, an infectious disease expert in Seattle, knew that the United States did not have much time. She proposed that samples collected for Influenza surveillance be tested for Corona Virus and she was blocked. Months were lost and the alarm that could have been sounded was muted.
The Public Health Infrastructure in the United States has been pillaged, demeaned and neutered by a president and his coconspirators in the republican party – placing our nation in the path of a barreling tornado. They have destroyed the cellars which might protect us.
Photo by Viktor Forgacs on Unsplash
I’m a pediatrician in NYC, sailing these choppy seas without a map. There has been zero guidance from any government agency on how to prepare a private medical office for a Pandemic.
No agency has provided us with protective equipment to keep our staff or ourselves safe. We can’t buy the necessary masks and gowns.
Fortunately, my medical partner and I have been following COVID 19 from the beginning. We have hand sanitizers, soap, masks for coughing patients and enough N95 masks for ourselves and our staff for now.
We have changed our daily schedule radically.We have removed all toys, books and stickers from the office. From early morning until mid afternoon we will only see patients who are cough and fever free. Anyone with a possibility of Corona is asked to stay home. From 4 pm until closing, we will see “the sick” kids. From 4 PM on, we all wear N95 masks, protective goggles, gowns and gloves. After the last patient has left, we disinfect the entire office.
Everything we have and are doing are self generated. We all need guidance from our leaders.
Dr. Laura Popper is an extraordinarily pediatrician in NYC who goes above and beyond for all her patients. She’s also a fierce activist, brilliant leader, and excellent Mother of 2. Beloved on NYC’s upper east side neighborhood, and beyond, Dr. Popper received her medical degree from Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons and has been in practice for more than 20 years.